Hypable spoke to cast of Jessica Jones at the premiere earlier this week, where stars Krysten Ritter and Mike Colter were all aglow over their dark new endeavor.
Krysten Ritter, who stars as Jessica, is as bluntly confident as her character — though much more cheerful. Differences aside, Ritter feels strongly that Jessica’s realistic circumstances will resonate with viewers.
“She’s not trying to save the universe,” Ritter says. “Her shit’s all really real, and personal. I think that’s really cool, because it’s grounded in reality.”
That reality allows for an incredibly complex portrait of a damaged woman, and offers Ritter exciting material as an actress. “I get to do drama, and comedy, and action sequences — and kick people’s ass,” she laughs.
Ritter is also unfazed by the scrutiny applied to women in the comic book genre. Playing a female superhero, she suggests, is a no-brainer.
After all, she says, “I wouldn’t know how to play any other kind of superhero!”
But realism and superheroics aside, it was the script for Jessica Jones that commanded Ritter’s attention first.
“I was just devouring it,” she admits. “I love how all the scenes are so dynamic, and there was really great subtext at play. Like the scenes especially with Luke Cage — where I’m saying one thing, but there’s really something else going on inside. That’s really fun to dig in and play.”
Related: Jessica Jones review: A tough, terrifying tour-de-force
Mike Colter, who originates the role of Luke Cage in Jessica Jones and will continue the role in his own series, feels similarly inspired by the experience.
“It’s a revelation,” he says. “You sit there and you think to yourself, not often do you get a chance to warm up a character, or at least to start testing out the character prior to him having his own series. It’s unique. I’m so happy to be a part of this.”
Like Marvel fans, Colter is also intrigued by the intricate mechanics between the small-screen series.
“This specific series is so unique unto itself, in comparison to Daredevil, in comparison to Luke Cage, which I’m shooting right now,” he says. “I just feel like I’m really doubly lucky. I have a foot in this series, and a foot in my own series, and what the future holds, I don’t know — but it’s a unique place to be in.”
And while Krysten Ritter admits that she isn’t sure what she would do with super-strength (though she mused that “It would be so much easier to walk around the city at night!”) Colter has very specific feelings on adopting Cage’s gift.
“If I were indestructible, oh my God, I’d probably go over and help out Paris right now,” he says. “I’d go over and, point [the perpetrators] out to me, and I’ll take care of them.”
(Yes, we swooned a bit.)
Meanwhile, showrunner, writer, and producer Melissa Rosenberg reveals how her writing staff crafted Jessica, Luke, and the rest of the series’ intensely complex characters.
“[Brian Michael] Bendis created this incredible character of Jessica Jones, and [we were] able to expand upon it… [to add] more facets,” Rosenberg enthuses. “The stories are endless because there’s so much damage — and we were able to instill even more!”
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“Initially, we were calling the show A.K.A. Jessica Jones, and all the [episode] titles are actually ‘A.K.A….'” she says. Based on that premise, Rosenberg and her writers set themselves a challenge.
“Every character was like, what’s the character’s ‘A.K.A.?'” she says. “Like you think, oh this character is just the hard-bitten lawyer. Oh, well, as it turns out, she’s got her own issues going on… it’s all about the process to find those layers.”
And as fans who have already begun main-lining the addictive series can attest — Jessica Jones is all about layers.
Jessica Jones is now available for streaming on Netflix. Read our review here!